Greetings again from upstate NY

[RacinRex]

I know most of you didn't miss my young punk attitude around here.  ;)

anyhow well I'm back to posting and stuff. I can see I missed out on a whole whack of good stuff. Between the holidays and two or more family emergencies things spiraled out of control and I lost the hobby side of life.. I've finally got life calmed back down enough to spend some leisure time on the things I enjoy, such as checking this forum, sawing lumber and working on my house. Some of the 1" pine I sawed in September is starting to feel very light could it be dry enough to use just being air dried for 4.5 months?


Anyone from Maine? I'm heading up to the Presque Isle, St Agatha area on february 18th for some snow mobiling I was just wondering if I could drop in on a fellow sawyer while out on the trails.  I'll see you all around and catch up with the posts on the first page to the best of my ability.

[DanG]

Welcome back, from Upstate Florida!  Yeah, that pine is probably about as dry as it's gonna get just flappin' in the breeze.  If ya ain't gonna kiln it, ya might as well nail it to somethin'. ;D

[RacinRex]

I'm kinda touch about kilns. The house I grew up in has hardwood throughout and was build in the 1880's. I'm pretty sure they didn't have kilns to dry in back then. No gaps in the floor to this day. I spent three years building furniture and cabinents with the old timer I worked for in High School. my whole family has pieces I built there and none of it has needed repairs and that was all air dried lumber. Man is always in too big of a hurry. If we didn't have dry wood we went and found something else to do  ;D

[DanG]

I find nothing in that to disagree with. Especially the part about the impatience of man. We are an anxious lot, ain't we?

I'll bet ya, though, that those old-timers knew something about the shrinkage and other movements of wood. I wonder, if you could research the history of people's thoughts, how far back you'd have to go to find the first knowledge of a rudimentary kiln?  Jesus and his Daddy were carpenters, and probably his Granddaddy, too. I bet they knew if they put the wood closer to the fire it would dry faster.  The fella that built that house knew something about it too. He probably wouldn't recognize the term, "KD", but he knew you could dry wood faster if it was in a heated environment.  "Modern" man has done a lot to enhance and control the process, but the process itself has been around for a long, long time.

[Ianab]

Hi Rex

Easy way to tell if wood is completely airdried is to weigh a piece on some digital scales. Write the weight on it with a pencil and put it back in the stack... next week weigh it again. If it's got lighter it's still drying. After a couple of weeks at the same weight you can say it's as dry as it's going to get in that location. It wont tell you what the actual moisture content is, but you will know it's properly air dried, and then you can estimate it's actual MC depending on your climate.
I find 1" pine is pretty well air dry after 6 months, well 6 months of summer heat anyway. Killing bugs and setting pitch aside, correctly air dried wood is still good wood. It just takes a bit longer  

Ian

[Brad_S.]

Welcome Back Kotter Jim, to the place where you belong.

[moosehunter]

RR,
 A group of us from HHSC went last winter and spent a week riding out of Presque Isle. Very good riding. You will have a great time.
 Gotta go to the Sportsman Club in Sincair ( on long lake) for a supurb dining experience.
Moosehunter

[RacinRex]

You must be a happy camper Mike. Out in alpine we have between 4-6inches and its still coming down. I'll bet that you and your compadres go right by my place while I'm trying to sleep . Supposed to get more this weekend. Finally winter is here and I'm loving it. I don't like the knee deep mud and constant rain we've been dealing with till now. Have fun. BTW I live right next door to Skeet (Big guy that works for Glider City and has the RX1) Thinking of joining HHSC next year if the house is done.

When is the next time you are going to be up and milling out your way. I'd love to come for a couple of hours and lend a hand just to see the setup.

Jimbo

[moosehunter]

I know Skeet, don't know where he lives though. I am not one of the ones that wakes you up, I believe in being seen ,not heard.
Not enough snow yet, I don't like the sound of $$$ skis hitting rocks!
Mike